Astray
by NyxNite
Summary: "A man has heard the tale from a girl not yet grown, a man will hear another tale from a woman now, a woman who has seen the boy turned man." "A woman was doing as she was called to do... A woman saw a once familiar man..."


"A girl met a boy when she was young and a wolf..." Her jaw tensed as she paused, a red whelp forming on her neatly crossed hands. She tried again, ignoring the stinging of her hands and the numbness in her legs as she sat perfectly still upon her heels. This would not end well a voice chanted in her mind, but there were no other current options.

Steely gray eyes of winter bore into the ground; a girl could not bring herself to look up. "A girl met a boy after some happenings in King's Landing when the girl was still a wolf." This time when the switch whacked her fingers, her toes squeezed together in her shoes.

She looked up then, a hint of confusion flittering behind her gaze before seeing the frigid stare that was returned by her mentor. Her eyes fell to the ground again in shame as he spoke.

"A man knows a girl is still a wolf. As a wolf too can be no one. But always a clever girl, for she knows a man knows this part of the tale."

"Then a girl wonders why a man asks at all. A man has heard the tale before. A man has lived it in part..." She muttered examining her nails with her eyes.

The reed pressed gently under her chin causing her to look up into flickering green eyes. A man was having a hard time controlling his face. His true self was coming through, a rather rare occurrence a girl noted wryly. "A man has heard the tale from a girl not yet grown, a man will hear another tale from a woman now, a woman who has seen the boy turned man."

If the girl had not been sitting so still she would have stiffened. Once again Arya Stark wondered exactly how Jaqen H'ghar seemed to know everything. Perhaps it was a gift of the Many-Faced God, her curse then. She did not know. She could only find pride in knowing that she had not taken a face. Such an act, minus permission, would lead her to the side of the god of death this time. 'Not today...'

"A woman was doing as she was called to do... A woman saw a once familiar man..." She said quietly half way expecting another pop. When none came, she continued. "A woman was curious and when she finished her quest for secrets at the House of Masks, she found the man and watched."

"The woman should speak the man's name, so the Many-Faced God may remember him." Arya hesitated at that, looking up quickly to for the first time see anger in Jaqen's face.

"A woman feels that may be unwi-" She muttered as she looked everywhere but at him, before he cut her off grabbing her chin, and forcing her to look at him again.

"A man knows a bastard's name. A woman calls for and then curses him in her sleep. And then crawls into his bed to warm it while she should be serving..." A girl's chin was now bruised.

Arya Stark could barely contain herself as the words flew out of her mouth. "No One shouldn't be jealous."

The man laughed, it was cold and caused a chill to enter the room. He stared at her before dropping the reed into her lap. "Clever girl, she knows what it takes to be No One. A man will do his duty..."

"What..."

"A man stands in the high window of the baths and watches a girl, because if the girl becomes Arya Stark she may slip her fingers between her folds and a man can pretend it is him instead..." The girl's eyes were wide as she slammed the reed upon the man's awaiting fist. His eyebrow raised slightly, his head tilted to the side. "A man tells no lie..."

Her face is slathered in confusion and regret. "But... You..."

"A man enters a girl's chamber at night and pours milk of the poppy down her throat before taking her teat in his mouth and... " Another pop resounded around the room. "A man tells no lie..." he says before continuing. "A girl calls out for her bull in her drugged sleep as a man dines between her legs."

A girl whacks a man across the cheek. She is standing now, trembling. Her pale face is red, twisted in repulsion. She is horrified, she is speechless. She is looking for something to be used as a weapon. But there is nothing but the bloody reed in her hands. She shakes her head unbelieving closing her eyes tight. Before she feels a cold hand grip at her wrist.

A man is standing now; his face has changed and the girl finds that she has no breath when she looks upon him. "No..."

"A man finds a bull stealing kisses from a girl behind a forge in the darkness of night. He sees the girl is once again Arya Stark. A man waits and takes a face. The next day a man buries himself inside of a girl with the face of a bull. She becomes a woman."

Something in her snaps as she looks into the stolen eyes of Gendry. He had loved her, he remembered her name, he had asked her to leave with him. She saw red and went to attack the man but he was her mentor and he quickly disabled her. He held her arms painfully behind her back as she screamed and thrashed, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "You killed him!"

"He was trying to steal away a servant of the Many-faced God."

"You raped me!"

A man's head dipped carefully as he drew his tongue up along the side of her cheek causing the girl to stiffen. He found he rather liked the taste of her tears. "A girl begged for more..."

"I thought it was Gendry..." She whispers her body shaking. He still holds her in a way that incapacitates her, though now a free hand gropes her almost menacingly. He flips her roughly and forces her to stare into strikingly blue eyes. It breaks her, he is not Gendry Waters but he wears his face.

"No One should have known better... " He whispers, his lips pressing to hers as her eyes widen in horror. He pulls away before stepping back and watching her crumple to the floor. She sobs as he places a small vial before her and begins to walk away.

"We are not No One." She says angrily, this time choosing to look up into the stolen face. "No One does not want. You obsess and take. You aren't fit to be No One..."

He gives her a crooked smile that doesn't belong on her Gendry. She shivers before he speaks. "Drink and forget Arya Stark... Your temptation has led me astray."


End file.
